"The sword was a masterful idea, Noda-san." I got up and walked over to join him. "How'd you manage it?"
"Mr. Walton, what exactly do you know about the Emperor Antoku's Imperial Sword?" He sipped from a plastic cup, eyes squinting behind his rimless specs.
"Probably more than I should."
'Then you will understand its recovery is a turning point in the history of Japan."
I looked at him and realized he believed it. Actually believed it. Matsuo Noda had become a legend in his own mind. Why tamper with perfection?
"Have to admit, too, the idea of using our international bank cover to gobble up America's blue chips incognito was a stroke of genius. Congratulations. You're about to scare MITI and the rest of Japan half to death. Not to mention the world. With DNI heading up the management, who knows what could happen? You can probably write your own ticket back home after this."
"Your friend Dr. Henderson's young colleague was invaluable."
Was?
Alas, poor Jim Bob. Did that mean he wasn't going to live long enough to spend the new fortune he thought he was about to make? Maybe Noda was planning to do half of my work for me.
"I guess a few of those phone taps you like so much led you straight to him, right? You were probably at least a day ahead of everything we did."